The present invention relates generally to welding, and, more particularly, to a weld parameter interface system and method which calculate electrical requirements or other settings for a welding process from weld characteristics, such as a material to be welded, joint configuration, weld dimensions or other parameters. By allowing users to describe a weld to be performed rather than electrical requirements, the system and method of the present invention can simplify and/or automate the electrical calibration of a power source for a particular welding procedure.
As new advances in the welding arts develop, the level of user knowledge required to operate advanced welders has correspondingly increased. In other words, the more features and capabilities incorporated into a welder, the more an operator must learn or remember in order to utilize the new features and capabilities. Many present welding systems and power sources prompt a user to specify such settings as weld voltage, current, signal frequencies, and electrical operation modes like constant current (CC) and constant voltage (CV). Some systems even prompt a user to define particular welding power waveforms, in which case an operator must enter in such specific details as rise times, fall times, pulse widths, and the like.
In contrast, many weld operators are prone to understand welding processes in terms of the physical characteristics of the weld itself. It stands to reason that, since an operator is primarily concerned with making a weld, the operator will think of the welding procedure in terms of the weld itself and not in terms of power settings. That is, most operators will find it far easier to describe a welding process in terms of the workpiece materials, thicknesses, and weld joint types, rather than voltages, currents, and waveforms.
Requiring operators to learn electrical parameters and translate their weld description into electrical settings can diminish, to some extent, the advantages presented by technically advanced welding systems. When an operator must spend significant amounts of time in being constantly re-trained in new electrical settings or when an operator takes longer to adjust a new power source, the overall efficiency of a manufacturing process is reduced. Additionally, when experienced operators must be re-trained to think of weld settings in terms of electrical parameters, years of operator experience may be put to waste.
Some present systems have adjustment knobs or other interfaces located on the power source, so that users can adjust various power source settings in the field. Other systems utilize hand-held computers which are plugged directly into the power source for adjustment thereof. These procedures may be inconvenient for an operator who is welding remotely from the power source. They use additional parts and connections, or require the operator to set down the torch, walk back to the power source to adjust settings, then walk back to the weld area. When an operator is located inside a ship hull, for example, walking back to a power source located outside the ship hull can present a very real inconvenience. Additionally, though these systems sometimes provide for some quasi-physical input settings, such as wire feed speed or material descriptions, such systems typically contemplate that operators will still be directly adjusting at least some electrical parameters.
It would therefore be desirable to have a system and method capable of translating an operator's weld-characteristic understanding of a welding procedure into particular optimal settings for a power source, such as electrical settings. It would further be desirable for such a system and method to include a simple, intuitive user interface which is integrated into a remote device, for reduced parts and complexity and ease of power source adjustment.